Chapter 9
A/N: This chapter is a lot shorter than I intended to put out but I am really really sick, not covid but still just dying very slowly with body chills and a strep throat.
Harry woke up early for the first time in ... Merlin knows how long. He glared at the tiny sliver of light that dared to slip through a crack in the curtains and bathe the room in a soft golden hue. Ripping the blankets off of his body, Harry summoned his wand into his hand and transfigured clothes onto his nude form. He glanced towards his trunk where Narcissa was being kept and thought about entertaining himself with her at the moment, but decided against it.
Instead he lumbered down the stairs, mentally still wishing to be in bed, but atlas, life was full of disappointments. Yawning, Harry made his way out of the common room and towards the Great Hall. The only thing on his mind was breakfast and as much of it as possible.
As he entered the Great Hall, Harry was greeted to the sight of the entire school or close to it inside the eating room, but weirdly enough, nobody was actually eating. No, instead of partaking in the beauty that was food, they all had their faces buried inside of newspapers.
Harry slid into a seat next to Hermione who was busy reading as well and started to stack toast and eggs on his plate. Summoning some seasoned tomatos from down the table. Placing the tomato on the egg, Harry placed the mountain of eggs with the twin slices of tomato on top of some toasted bread and smashed it down. A bit of egg oozed out the sides but Harry bit at it, refusing to let any of the egg fall.
"Are you happy with yourself?" asked Hermione as Harry bit in to the tomato and egg sandwich. Harry chewed on the big bite that he had in his mouth before swallowing.
"I mean the sandwich is alright, could have used some bacon or maybe some honey, but yeah" said Harry as he held up the sandwich in his hand.
"No, do you know about this?" asked Hermione as she waved the newspaper in her hand.
"That is a newspaper, but I imagine that you're referring to what's written on it" replied Harry
Hermione growled but Harry just continued to eat.
"Harry Potter sends The Dark Lord and His Followers Packing" hissed Hermione as she read the title of the article to Harry.
"A little wordy but not completely inaccurate, Fleur was there as well" added Harry
"Fleur was there as well" repeated Hermione with an edge of something in her voice, "And do tell me as to what you were doing with her outside the castle on a school night Harry"
"I was on a date with her" replied Harry without pause
"On a date with her" repeated Hermione as she glared at him with renewed anger.
"I had no idea you were picking up a job as an echo" retorted Harry dryly.
Hermione opened her mouth to say something but Harry held up his hand to stop her from speaking.
"Listen, i get that you were this protective older sister figure for this world's Harry, but I'm not him. I'm older, I'm stronger, and I can take care of myself" said Harry as he locked eyes with her.
Harry slid out from his seat, "Tell the professors that I am not feeling well"
Hermione watched him leave and frowned, "It's Saturday, there aren't any classes"
Harry made his way back to his bed and collapsed in it as he felt his body shiver as he suddenly felt very cold.
Climbing under the covers, Harry cast a warming charm on himself and his blanket, only to still feel the icy chills roam up and down his body.
The first that Harry saw upon entering the chamber was a statue high as the Chamber itself loomed into view, standing against the back wall.
Harry had to crane his neck to look up into the giant face above: It was ancient and monkey-ish, with a long, thin beard that fell almost to the bottom of the wizard's sweeping stone robes, where two enormous gray feet stood on the smooth Chamber floor
"Ah, so the hero comes to save the girl" were the words that greeted Harry as he along with the sorting hat that he was wearing, as he ventured further into the chamber of secrets.
"huh?" came the ultra-intelligent answer from Harry, while the Hat wished it had hands to slap Harry.
'That is Tom Riddle boy, he's the one that put you in the coma remember' said the Sorting Hat in Harry's head.
"Tom Riddle?" asked Harry, not to the voice but to the hat.
'You don't remember him? I can clearly see him in your memories' stated the Hat
'Not all that good with faces' replied Harry
The tall, black-haired boy was leaning against the nearest pillar, watching. He was strangely blurred around the edges, as though Harry were looking at him through a misted window.
He pointed his mist covered finger at Harry and said "I don't know how you do it. First, you manage to survive the Basilisk attack by being a Parselmouth yourself. Then you managed to touch this mere shadow of a body and force me to start all over in acquiring a true body again."
Harry made a face at the ranting teens words and replied with "I didn't want to do any of that stuff, you came after me, remember. I didn't even know that you were attacking people until you got me accused of it."
"YOU LIE!" roared the misty boy, his face twisting into an angry snarl "YOU ARE JUST LIKE DUMBLEDORE! ALWAYS LYING TO MAKE YOURSELF THE MORE FAVORABLE FIGURE."
Harry tried to imagine growing a beard the size of Dumbledore's but realized the attention that it drew would never be worth it.
"I am nothing like Dumbledore, I care not from multi-colored robes, weirdly shaped glasses, or a beard that probably itches like crazy" retorted Harry
The Hat stared at him. Tom Riddle had been at Hogwarts fifty years ago, yet here he stood, a weird, misty light shining about him, not a day older than sixteen.
"Are you a ghost?" asked the Sorting Hat, the ancient object speaking out loud for the first time.
"A memory," said Riddle quietly. "Preserved in a diary for fifty years."
"Diary?" muttered Harry as he began to look around for a diary. It was only then that he spotted a small red haired girl who was clutching a small black diary.
"Oh, did you have company over before we came?" asked Harry pointing at the girl on the ground
"She is who you have come to rescue, have you not?" asked Tom
"Rescue? I am here for revenge. Do you have any idea of what you did to me?" questioned Harry
"Oh, so you absorbed more than just the sliver of knowledge that led you to this location from me in that hallway." Commented Tom, looking excited.
"So, you felt that as well? For the briefest of moments, our minds were like two sides to the same piece of paper" said Harry
'Keep him talking, I am going to look through his memories in your head and see if I can find a weakness' said the Sorting Hat inside of Harry's mind
Harry agreed mentally as he looked at Tom, who was looking more and more solid by the minute.
"So, what is your end game here, Tom?" asked Harry
Tom Riddle didn't respond at first, just watching Harry while twirling a wand who probably belonged to the girl on the ground, between his long fingers.
"I've waited a long time for this, Harry Potter," said Riddle. "For the chance to see you. To speak to you."
"Oh really?" asked Harry "Now, why would you want that?"
"Well, what can I say? I heard a lot about you from Ginny. She had the biggest crush on you, The Boy Who Lived." Explained Tom as he pointed the wand in his hands at the girl on the ground
'Ginny? Why does that name seem familiar?' Harry asked the Sorting Hat
'She is the younger sister of Ronald Weasley' answered the magical hat
'Oh, so she is the younger sister of the annoying red haired male in my year' replied Harry
"How did Ginny get like this?" Harry asked looking at the extremely pale girl unconscious on the ground.
"Well, that's an interesting question," said Riddle pleasantly. "And quite a long story. I suppose the real reason Ginny Weasley's like this is because she opened her heart and spilled all her secrets to an invisible stranger."
"What are you talking about?" said Harry.
"The diary," said Riddle. "My diary. Little Ginny's been writing in it for months and months, telling me all her pitiful worries and woes — how her brothers tease her, how she had to come to school with secondhand robes and books, were some of the normal topics that we talked about."
Tom smirked as he body stopped being misty around the edges "However there was a special topic that we talked about; how she didn't think famous, good, great Harry Potter would ever like her"
"I mean to be completely honest, I don't really like anyone. I mean have you ever met another person. They will talk, they will complain, they will try to hug you, try to drag you into their issues. I don't feel interested in any of that." Replied Harry
Tom sneered "You shouldn't have said that. Now poor Ginny will be heartbroken to learn that Harry Potter will never like her"
"I think that she will be sadder to learn that Tom Riddle is nothing more than life essence stealing piece of shit" retorted Harry, enjoying the glare that Tom sent him.
"Anyway, like I was saying before It was very boring, having to listen to the silly little troubles of an eleven-year-old girl. But I nothing if not patient. I wrote back. I was sympathetic, I was kind. Ginny simply loved me. No one's ever understood me like you, Tom... I'm so glad I've got this diary to confide in... It's like having a friend I can carry around in my pocket..."
Riddle laughed, a high, cold laugh that didn't suit him. It made the hairs stand up on the back of Harry's neck.
"So, you live in a diary?" asked Harry
"There is more to it than that, but you wouldn't understand it at this moment. Let's just say that I am more than a ghost but less than a real person. It is actually sad how long It took a for stupid little Ginny to stop trusting her diary," said Riddle. "But she finally became suspicious and tried to dispose of it, trying to flush it in a toilet. Of all the people who could have picked it up, I had hoped that you would find it. Instead Ginny returned to collect it again, but I still had hope that the very person I was most anxious to meet, you, would manage to stumble across me"
"And why did you want to meet me?" questioned Harry for like the 5th time.
"Well, you see, Ginny told me all about you, Harry," said Riddle. "Your whole fascinating history." His eyes roved over the lightning scar on Harry's forehead, and their expression grew hungrier. "I knew I must find out more about you, talk to you, meet you if I could."
"Oh, I get it, you're the man in the van with candy" stated Harry with a look of understanding on his face
"Man … in the van … Candy" mumbled Tom as he struggled to put it together until his face twisted into one of pure anger. "You will regret that comment Potter"
"Careful Riddle, your muggle side is showing" taunted Harry as he wand slid into his hand, his eyes never leaving the form of Tom. Harry continued on with his taunting, trying to unbalance Tom emotionally, "I bet Dumbledore saw right through you, Tom. Your cold exterior didn't create a warm layer of trust, did it?"
"Well, he certainly kept an annoyingly close watch on me after Hagrid was expelled," said Riddle carelessly. "I knew it wouldn't be safe to open the Chamber again while I was still at school. But I wasn't going to waste those long years I'd spent searching for it. I decided to leave behind a diary, preserving my sixteen-year-old self in its pages, so that one day, with luck, I would be able to lead another in my footsteps, and finish Salazar Slytherin's noble work."
"Well, you haven't finished it," said Harry triumphantly. "No one's died this time, I haven't been paying attention to who you were getting arrested or who was getting attacked, but I don't think that someone dying in the school wouldn't have reached my ears, my classmates never shut up"
"Haven't I already told you," said Riddle quietly, "that killing Mudbloods doesn't matter to me anymore? For many months now, my new target has been you."
"I am beginning to think that you have a serious issue Tom" replied Harry "Why are you so interested in me?"
"Well," said Riddle, smiling pleasantly, "how is it that you — a skinny boy with no extraordinary magical talent — managed to defeat the greatest wizard of all time? How did you escape with nothing but a scar, while Lord Voldemort's powers were destroyed?"
There was an odd red gleam in his hungry eyes now.
"How would I know something like that? I was a baby in case you haven't noticed" said Harry slowly. "Besides, Voldemort was after your time, why do you care?"
"Voldemort," said Riddle softly, "is my past, present, and future, Harry Potter..."
He pulled Ginny's wand from his pocket and began to trace it through the air, writing three shimmering words:
TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE
Then he waved the wand once, and the letters of his name rearranged themselves:
I AM LORD VOLDEMORT
Harry groaned as he opened his eyes, that dream was not how things had played out in his world. The weird dream plus suddenly feeling sick? What was going on?
Chapter 10
Harry found himself back in the headmaster's office, sitting across from the old man once again. Such a familiar thing if the blended memories in his head were anything to go by. It was weird, he basically had three versions of every moment in his life bouncing around in his head.
What had started as a dream had only gotten worse as the days passed, it seemed as if every time that Harry closed his eyes, he was reliving some event from his life ... even if it wasn't his life that he was reliving
After a while, Harry had to admit that he did not have a control of the situation when he actually relived a History class against his will. It turns out that this world's version of him actually went to that class. Where every year learned the same goblin rebellion stories.
It was one thing to make him relive his battles against Voldemort or the giant snake or the giant spiders or the dragon, but forcing him to learn without his consent? That was the most evil thing that he had ever heard of.
"Give it to me straight Dumbledore" said Harry, "What sly evil spell did Voldemort hit me with?"
Dumbledore let out a chuckle, "Harry, my dear boy, I'm afraid that is not the case"
Harry nodded, "Of course, it wasn't snake face, he probably had Snape do it for him. He's a coward"
Dumbledore shook his head, "No, there is no spell that ever was or had been cast on you"
Harry made an 'oh' face as a look of understanding settled in, "It's a potion aint it
Dumbledore held up his hand "Mr. Potter please stop guessing, I am going to simply tell you what is going on"
Harry made a face but settled back down in his chair, his magic that had flooded the room sunk back into his body and he took a deep breath.
"The thing that you are experiencing is known as 'duas mentes', a latin term meaning two minds" explained Dumbledore, "The reason this is happening is that wand that you are currently was deeply connected with the Mr. Potter that is no longer with us"
"Sooooooo, the wand is messing with me?" asked Harry
"To put it in the simplest manner of speaking, yes" replied Dumbledore
Harry bit his lip before the holly wand slid into his hand and he in a blur of motion silently hit Dumbledore with a disarming spell.
The Elder Wand purred in Harry's hand as he caught it and he felt his magic surge inside of his body, the wand amplifying his magic.
"That was not very polite" commented Dumbledore
"I'm not here for polite Dumbledore, I'm here to literally murder a man" sassed Harry as he tucked the holly wand away for safe keeping.
Dumbledore gave a disapproving look before shrugging when it didn't work on the Harry before him like it would have worked on the Harry of this world. Despite how similar that they looked, they were still vastly different people.
Dumbledore held open his hand and hid the frown that threatened to appear on his face when the elder wand refused to come back to him. Harry's hold on the powerful wand was already stronger than his own had been.
Sighing, Dumbledore reached his hand out and a pale tan blur shot out form his bedroom and into his hand. Dumbledore shivered as he gripped the wand, it was slightly over a foot long, 13 inches and made of what looked to be Yew wood.
"You have a very similar wand to Tom, professor" said Harry
Dumbledore peered over his glasses and chuckled, "Yes, Tom and I are two sides of the same coin, while he fears death more than anything. I embrace it and understand that death is needed for the resurrection of society. This wand is 13½ inches long made of Yew wood. and has a phoenix feather core"
"Phoenixes really just love giving away their feathers" joked Harry
"Fawkes has a rough time telling me no, Harry"
Harry looked confused by what Dumbledore meant, so he decided to explain for once.
"This is not my original wand either, Harry" said Dumbledore, "I went on a soul searching journey after the death of my sister. I thought that perhaps it was my spell that killed her. I do not know nor do I wish to ever know"
Dumbledore's face took on a far away look and Harry realized that this version of his master was just as tortured as the last one.
"I've looked over the memory of that event over a thousand different times and to this day, I could not tell you whose spell killed her Harry" said Dumbledore in a soft voice before the legendary old man regrouped himself, "But you did not come here to listen to the ramblings of an old man's mistakes"
"After the accident with my sister and her passing, I struck out to travel the world. I had wanted to do so after finishing Hogwarts, but I had no money to do so at the time. My parents had burdened me with a younger brother and sister who needed me to tend to their needs. But with my sister dead and my brother breaking my nose at the wedding and telling me what a disgrace I was, i found myself suddenly free" Dumbledore licked his suddenly dry lips.
"You have to understand Harry, that event changed me. I no longer wished to be the person who sat on top of the world. I found myself trying to be the best person that i could be, i wanted to be a man that she would be proud of" continued the headmaster.
"It was on my journey, I was traveling through the Himalayan Mountains, when there was a massive rockslide that even I could not repel. I was unable to apparate as i drained myself beyond my limits trying to cast a shield that could protect not just myself, but the muggle village at the base of mountain"
"I had collapsed to my knees, magically drained and exhausted beyond anything that I had ever experienced before, but it had been worth it as I had saved the muggles. As the rocks came tumbling down towards me, there was a flash of flame and the next thing I knew, I was just outside the muggle village and Fawkes was flying in circles over my head" finished Dumbledore
"So your wand is also a Fawkes' tail feather core wand as well?" asked Harry
"Yes, as an old friend of mine marched across Europe, I had an accident with a student here that broke my first wand. Rather than use my charming good youthful looks and sunshine personality, Fawkes took it upon himself to deliver Ollivanders a tail feather, he's such a clever companion" stated Dumbledore fondly as he looked at his familiar
Harry nodded, "So about the wand?"
Dumbledore rolled his eyes, "Keep the Elder Wand for yourself Harry, I am getting up in age, you are a more suitable keeper for it"
Harry thanked the headmaster and said, "I am going to keep Harry's old wand just as a back up, but I have to go practice using this new one"
Dumbledore dismissed him with a wave of his hand and Harry got up and exited the office, walking down the spiral staircase and glanced to his right before turning left and walking slowly. The elder wand in his left sleeve was purring with delight, begging him to squash the person trailing him with the ease that he knew it could be done with.
But it was like only a month into the school year, can't start piling up corpses this early in the year. Students, teachers, or creatures dying was more of an end of the year thing.
So, instead of crushing his trailer like a bug, Harry slowly lead him towards a corridor that was no longer used for teaching, it was part of the old alchemy area and used the elder wand to magically draw a paralyzation rune on the ground and simply kept walking.
A few seconds later, the sound of a body hitting the floor was heard and Harry turned around and lifted the frozen body into the air with his control over the winds.
"I feel like I already know who you are, but it never hurts to check" mused Harry as he used his magic to wash over the body finding that he could not feel the the magic of the person hiding from him.
A flick of the elder wand and wind blew the invisibility cloak off of the person and Harry was treated to the sight of Draco Malfoy angry face.
"Hello little dragon" teased Harry
"Let me down this instant or " started Draco
"Or what?" interrupted Harry, "You'll tell your father about this?"
Draco went silent even as his face turned red with rage and the Malfoy blinked away tears.
"I've already removed your father off the chest board Draco" tsk'd Harry, "I, also remember giving you a rather simple to understand warning on the train, so tell me why you think that I should let you live today"
Draco gave a sad face, "It doesn't matter what I say then does it Potter!"
Harry gave a continue gesture with his hand
"Either you kill me today or he kills me over the holidays for failing to get the information from you" said Draco
Harry frowned, "Voldemort continues to send children and disposable pawns to do his bidding. Honestly, it is pathetic how much public fears this man"
Draco scowled at Harry, "Hurry up and kill me Potter, the sooner that you end my life, the sooner i can be reunited with my parents"
"You father maybe, but your mother is safe and sound, hidden away from Voldemort" replied Harry
Draco gasped "He said he killed my mother"
"Your mother is locked away in one of my safe houses that is beyond warded, it would be easier to break into Hogwarts than the location your mother is being kept at" stated Harry
Was this a lie? Perhaps, it really just depends on what you believe the truth is. Technically speaking, Harry was telling the truth as the trunk that Narcissa was living in was warded and inside Hogwarts, so you would have to break into Hogwarts first.
"Now now, don't go getting any ideas, I believe that we could help each other" claimed Harry as he lowered Draco to the ground
Draco narrowed his eyes at Harry, "What do you want from me?"
"The same thing Voldemort wants from you, money" said Harry
"I'm not giving you anything" declared Draco
"That's fine, I don't want your money, I want you to keep it to yourself, Voldemort gets none of it" said Harry
Draco bit his lip. "He's already living in my house, I can't go back there and tell him no"
Harry pretended to give some thought to it, the answer already in his mind. His finances had been sorted though correctly by himself, so when he was ready to slip out from Dumbledore' grasp, he would be prepared.
"I have a loft, hidden at 2188 Diagon Alley Apt 7176, you can stay there" said Harry
Draco felt a wave of magic pass over him as he heard the address
"You have this place hidden away that much, it's under the charm" gasped Draco in amazement
Harry nodded, "Just because you don't like the hand you're dealt, doesn't mean you can't have cards under the table"
"So what? You wish for me trade one master for another?" asked Draco
"I'm not gonna kill you in a fit of rage" reasoned Harry before he went in for the kill, "I can have your mother transported there as well. You can spend the holidays there with her"
Draco's expression softened and Harry knew that he had him where he wanted them.
"Now, what did Voldemort want to know?" asked Harry
"How you're still alive" whispered Draco
Harry shook his head and allowed a chuckle to slip from his mouth, "That's all he wanted to know? You should lead with that next time Draco. I am still alive because the ritual that brought him back to life, bounds me to this world until he dies. He used my blood to bring himself back, now I use my blood in his body to bring myself back"
Draco's eyes widen, "You so casually reveal that to me?"
"Of course, unless you can kill Voldemort, you cannot kill me" said Harry as he lifted Draco's sleeves, revealing pale unblemished skin before he said, "Run along Draco, report what you have to him and don't take the dark mark, no matter what he says or offers"
Draco nodded, scooping up his invisibility cloak as he walked off to do whatever it is that Draco does when given his free time. Harry watched him leave, disappearing around a bend in the hallway before turning around and blowing a gust down the hallway to reveal the person watching the person watching him.
"So, you do show mercy" said the individual in a slow drawl of a statement, before his eyes trained in on the black twisted and warped piece of wood in his hand, "You also acquired a new wand as well"
"Snape" hissed Harry, his snake like voice sending shivers down the Potion Master's spine, before Harry relaxed, "I get it, you're looking after Draco"
"Someone has to look after an orphaned boy" replied Snape, "You are cruel for lying to him about his mother. The Dark Lord would not lie about killing someone"
"Voldemort is a great liar, but he is wrong about Narcissa" said Harry as he walked closer and closer to Snape, the air chilling with each step. Snape could see his breath, his robes were sticking to his body as they froze on his skin.
Harry got closer, leaning in to Snape's ear and whispered, "She's living in a trunk in my room, I've fucked over and over again, she's little more than a toy for me"
Then the coldness in the air disappeared and when Snape blinked, Harry was gone. Had he looked up, he would have seen Harry floating above him as he allowed the winds to carry him through the halls.
As Harry drifted along the halls, he got the sudden idea to pay Fleur a visit as he passed by a window. Zipping out of the window, Harry arrived at her tower's window and knocked lightly.
It was a very confused Fleur that opened the door, her hair in a messy bun, her robe open to real that her small sleeping shirt was doing a poor job of restraining her chest without the help of a bra.
"Harry, what are you doing here?" asked Fleur
"I can't pop up to visit you?" asked Harry
"Not in the middle of the night, it's a school night too" said Fleur
She opened her mouth to say something else but Harry leaned in and pressed his lips to hers, cutting off whatever she was going to say next was devoured by Harry's lips.
The two of them parted and Harry leaned his forward against hers, his raven locks tickling her forehead as he stared into her eyes.
"So, you gonna leave me out here or you gonna let me in?" asked Harry
Fleur pouted her lips and she gave him a quick peck on the lips before she drew back and pretended to think about it before she raised the window higher, causing Harry to smirk, before she slammed it shut.
She blew him a kiss and Harry could only smile as he was shut down by Fleur. A quick glance at the dark night sky told Harry that she was right, it was getting a little later than even he would have liked.
Jetting off towards his common room, he shattered a window silently before fixing it with a wave of his wand. Yawning as he climbed the stairs to his shared room, Harry made it back and slipped into the room, throwing his clothes at the base of his bed and then climbing into bed, the Elder Wand under his pillow. he was hoping for a dreamless sleep, his magic flowing inside of him restlessly as he dozed off and he knew that he was in for a long night.
'How about you just put me in the house that I would draw the least amount of attention in' said Harry
"If that is what you wish my boy but remember sometimes you find your destiny on the very road that you take to avoid it." Said the Sorting hat to Harry in Harry's mind.
'I will do what I must to be the person that I want to be thought back, Harry.
"I like that type of energy kid, with that type of courage, there is only place that you could be sorted to, the one place that everyone would expect you to go to.' Said the Sorting Hat before speaking to the entire Great Hall.
"BETTER BE GRYFFINDOR"
Over the next couple of days, Harry was forced to deal with constant stares and whispers. Both were things that he could do without but couldn't seem to rid himself of because they followed him like moths to a flame. So, Harry is the very adjusted anti-social person that he was, managed to find out that no matter what world that you lived in, there was always one place that the average student would avoid at all costs. Harry would spend 33 of the next 72 hours in the library, which was only surpassed by 5th-year students and 7th-year students, most Ravenclaws (4th year and up), and Hermione "All I do is study and master spells non-stop" Granger
Why the bushy-haired girl was determined to dominate from the beginning of the year, Harry had no idea. She was generally the first to cast a spell correctly, the first to finish an essay, the last to have any issue with the school work. Harry had quite the interesting theory conversation with her in some of her more bearable moments.
'Honestly, I am so thankful that she's a crazy bookworm, with her arm flying out of her socket, nobody has paid any attention to me in class' thought Harry.
The truth was Harry was quietly the 3rd best student in his grade behind Granger and Greengrass. Harry thought that if Hermione ever calmed down and stopped talking so much, she would be a decent friend. She was smart, determined, and handy with her wand.
She was everything that Harry needed in a friend to hide behind. She would be the better student, she would be the more visible of the two as she never passed up a chance to answer a question. She was everything that he would need to fade into the background.
That brought us to the other student that Harry had shared some words. The one and only Daphne Greengrass were already some of those things, she didn't talk nearly as much as Hermione did, which suited Harry just fine. She was also the bit more attractive of the two, but Harry could never bring himself to ever bring up a topic the few times that she ventured near his library table. (A/N1)
While Harry had only made light conversation with both of the bright witches, he had yet to engage either of them in any topic that wasn't based on the books on his library table. Both Hermione and Daphne had been interested in why Harry was so interested in advanced Charms. Harry had slowly read his way through the Charms books until he reached the 5th Year Charms textbook. Harry would die and take it to his grave that his desire to read the charms books was to find and learn the Disillusionment Charm. Something that would allow him to slip away and disappear from the masses.
Chapter 11
Letters
Fleur loved to get letters from her younger sister, it was one of the best parts of her week. Letters were always the same, a detailed recounting of her week and then a stamp of magic on the lower right side.
One of the many perks that came with being a Veela was being sensitive to magic. Fleur could always thread her own magic through other people's magic. She had "softer" magic as people liked to call it. That didn't mean that she possessed weaker or less powerful magic, far from it. It meant that her magic was more moldable, she could control the intent of it better than most people.
So whenever she and her sister were apart for an extended period of time, they would write these letters to one another and put these stamps on the bottom right of the letter. It was a good way to get an honest answer from one another. A flash of heat produced by the magic meant that they were frustrated, angry, upset. A burst of cold from the magic told the other that they were lonely or sad. A gentle warm feeling meant things were okay. There were other variations of mixing cold and hot, that added smaller messages but for the most part, they stuck to those 3 simple ones.
Fleur rolled her eyes as she scanned over the letter and found that Gabby had but a single thing on her mind. It was actually the same thing that she had on her mind most of the time nowadays.
Harry Mother James Fucking Potter ... excuse her French
Fleur was not a young lady who got by alone on her good looks. No, she was every bit as smart as she was beautiful. A rare and deadly combo that the world was not all that aware of. She tended to trust her mind and instinct over her emotions, it had gotten her this far without failing her.
That's why when she closed her window on the floating Harry, she did so with every fiber of her being, despite not wanting to.
She as an enchantress was very in tune with magic, the way it felt, the way it bent and coiled around objects. The way that it burrowed into things and changed them. The way that it felt inside of a person.
She had already met Harry Potter, the boy who had wormed his way into her heart was not Harry Potter.
Or at least not the version of Harry Potter that she met. This one was older, this one was more intelligent and powerful than the meek young boy who she had met the prior year.
This one was different in every single way. This one made her breath hitch and her heart flutter.
But most of all, this one had a cold angry presence in the world and every time that she dove into the endless pit that was his magic reserves, she could find nothing but the icy cold depths waiting for her.
This was not Harry Potter, but he was clearly Harry Potter.
Just not from this world, she was certain of it by now.
She could feel the icy cold grip of his magic calling out to her every time that he was near her. But the icy feeling was not one that she found pleasant even if the company that carried it was. She had felt something similar only once in her life before, inside the wand that Dumbledore carried around. Which if the rumors were to be believed, was THE Elder Wand.
So why did Harry Potter have an icy magical touch that was only matched by something that was created by Death?
That was a tough question to ask in her opinion because there was several different answers that she could think of that would answer the question with ease. The first being the simplest, Harry Potter had quite literally been killed.
And had risen back from the dead like nothing had happened!
That was the easiest way to justify his feeling, he had died and been brought back to life.
But how?
None of the magic that Fleur knew could defeat death. Dumbledore was said to have a dark checkered past with darker forms of magic, it was a very much a possibility that he knew something that she did not.
The second was something also simple, that the Harry Potter who died had not actually been Harry Potter and that the taller and older version of the teen was simply one that had been locked away training while the fake one was allowed to roam in the public's eye. Possibly under the extreme use of a time turner, which would explain how he was older than his actual age. But that line of thinking only led to more questions like who had played the younger and meeker Harry Potter that the public was used to seeing.
The third was also easy to run with, this was not Harry Potter despite feeling and looking similar to the one that she had met last year. But then ago, who exactly was this version of the man claiming to be Harry Potter.
Thinking about it made her head hurt, like she was missing a piece of the puzzle that she couldn't see. She couldn't see what she didn't know to look for.
She doesn't know what she didn't know
Fleur was not overly sure of what she could hang her knowledge of the situation to hang on, but she was absolutely sure of one thing: Dumbledore was at the heart of whatever was going on here.
As Fleur continued to think about Harry, the topic of her thoughts was having issues himself. At first he wasn't sure, but as the week progressed and he went about his classes, he found himself grower weaker and weaker even with the Elder Wand at his side.
His magic didn't rush to commands, it was slow, sluggish, and lacked the potency.
At first it was corrected by the amplification of the Elder Wand, but as the end of the second day of classes, Harry felt that something was amiss. He didn't want to go back to Dumbledore with this issue so soon after visiting him and taking the wand from him, but by day five of growing weaker and weaker, he was starting to think that it was the best course of action.
Friday, he skipped he last three classes, claiming to be feeling under the weather. He tried to cast a self diagnosis spell on his body, but his magic refused to perform the piece of magic.
He was making his way to Dumbledore's office when he felt a ripping pain travel across his back and he fell forward onto his face, he pulled his face up and he saw that that the ground around him was covered in a thick growing pool of blood.
The back of his hand was glowing and he watched as pieces of skin ripped off and were consumed by the glowing light that covered his body. He felt something pulling on his body and he hissed in pain as his body felt like it was being pulled apart.
When he woke up, he was in the hospital wing with Dumbledore standing by his bedside, a worried look on the elderly Headmaster's face.
"Good to see you awake Harry" greeted Dumbledore
"What happened?" asked Harry
"I have a general idea for what occurred, I can provide a bit more insight into what happened if you would tell me a little bit about what happened to you" said Dumbledore
"I was having issues getting my magic under control, I didn't have the will to cast spells even with the Wand" admitted Harry, "I was on my way to see you when I felt a sharp pain in my back and feel forward there was a white glowing light covering my body and it tore my skin off. Next thing I know, I was waking up here"
Dumbledore mulled over the information before saying "In the weeks leading up to summoning you here, I had to cast several spells and perform several small rituals to find a Harry Potter that could win our war. I never managed to pull any human parts into this world before I realized that I needed to use more magic than I had to offer and I needed an anchor to properly bring you here"
Harry didn't react, he felt like there would be more to this explanation.
"It would appear that someone is trying to summon you back to your home world Harry" concluded Dumbledore after a moment's silence
"And if I don't want to go back?" asked Harry
Dumbledore gave a gentle smile, "Then you don't have to, but that is what I believe is happening, I have come prepared in case you didn't want to return. I have crafted a cloth wrist band covered in runes that you can wear that will take a little of your magic and prevent you from being summoned again."
He pulled out a muggle cloth wristband that muggle athletes wore from a fold in his robes and presented it to Harry. Harry took it and slipped it onto his left wrist and immediately felt the surge of magic return back into him.
"Now this is not a permanent solution Harry, your magic will burn through that one and I will create several copies, while I look into this situation" said Dumbledore before he turned and left Harry alone in the hospital.
The world around him froze and Harry saw a much scrawnier version of himself at the foot of the bed.
"So, you're the hero they brought in to replace me" said the smaller Harry
Harry blinked as this alternate version of himself sat down at the foot of the bed.
"Don't tell me you're afraid of Ghosts" said the smaller Harry
"You're not really a ghost though" said Harry
"True"
"So what exactly are you?"
"I am something similar to a ghost but also different. I am an avatar of Magic"
"Is that why the world is frozen?"
"Yes, I have important information to tell you"
"Ok, don't wait for an invitation, out with it"
The smaller Harry gave a large evil smile, "You can't win this war"
Harry rolled his eyes, "You're not the first person to tell me that"
"I am the first one to have the knowledge of what is to come. I am here to tell you the truth, listen to my words and accept them or not. You, Harry James Potter, The Champion of Wind, The Boy who Lived, the Child of Prophecy, the Man who Succeeded. You are not enough to win this war because you're very presence here is a mistake. A costly one that will cause things to spiral out of control. Take my warning and return home"
"No, I don't think that I will. I have already given my word that I end this war"
"Then you have done it to yourself" said the smaller Harry with a level of pity in his voice that made Harry tighten up inside, "You have so much heartbreak, sorrow, and defeat ahead, it will break you"
The world returned to normal and Harry wasn't sure if that was a powerful force of magic or the worst daydream that he ever had. Either way, it was clearly nothing positive. And there was nothing positive happening in the world because as Harry laid in the hospital bed, recovering from the failed magical ritual to summon him back to his home world, his enemy was preforming a ritual of his own.
Voldemort's red eyes looked over the mass of runes that covered the room. Every single inch of the room was covered in runes, four of his less valuable death eaters stood in each corner of the room. They were ...batteries as the muggles would say.
It was the four of them and just himself. He didn't trust any of his followers to be apart of this, this moment for was for him and him alone. He was about to be more vulnerable than he ever had been
"How come I don't have a mom?" asked a very young 5 year old Tom Riddle Jr.
"Because you're a little freak" hissed the orphanage caretaker, "Nobody could ever love you, you don't matter"
Voldemort grit his teeth as memories flooded his mind, his control over his magic spiraling out of his control and he felt the ground crack beneath his feet.
"Tommy wants his mommy,Tommy wants his mommy,Tommy wants his mommy" sang the children at the orphanage
"Tommy wants his mommy,Tommy wants his mommy,Tommy wants his mommy"
"Tommy wants his mommy,Tommy wants his mommy,Tommy wants his mommy"
"Tommy wants his mommy,Tommy wants his mommy,Tommy wants his mommy"
"Tommy wants his mommy,Tommy wants his mommy,Tommy wants his mommy"
"Enough!" snarled Voldemort and he found the world around him frozen, the four death eaters in the room frozen in time as their bodies fell towards the ground
"Tommy wants his mommy,Tommy wants his mommy,Tommy wants his mommy" sang a voice that he would have mistaken for his own if he had not known better.
Voldemort whirled around and found himself face to face with a version of himself that looked a little more like Tom Riddle than Voldemort. The pale skin was the same, as was the red glowing eyes. But this version of himself had the same handsome face that he had back in his youth.
"Who are you?" asked Voldemort
"I am Tom Riddle" said the more human looking of the two
"I see, and what are you doing here?" asked Voldemort.
"The same thing as you, trying to kill Harry Potter" said Tom
"I've already done that, but he returned from the dead" stated Voldemort, "Older and more powerful than before"
"The power to Vanish the Dark Lord" quoted Tom, "Is that what the prophecy refers to?"
"Maybe, I seek a method to cheat death and Potter just has a way to cheat death" mused Voldemort, "That could be the power I know not"
"I always thought it was his extreme luck" jested Tom
"It could be that strange new wind ability of his" said Voldemort dismissively before the frozen world got even colder, snow falling in the sheltered room.
"What did you just say?" asked Tom, his voice taking on the same dangerous edge that Voldemort tended to use himself.
"After I killed him, he returned older and more powerful, more knowledgeable and has some new unfounded power over winds" answered Voldemort as he glanced around at the piling snowflakes.
"If that is this case, you aren't dealing with your Harry Potter, but the one from my world" snarled Tom
"Your world, your Harry Potter" repeated Voldemort
"Yes, I was killed by the brat in the Ministry of Magic, he blasted me through a veiled arc and it consumed my very soul, since then I have been adrift among the edges of the very fabric of magic, on the edge of the where the various worlds laid in the void of magic" explained Tom
"Dumbledore" spat Voldemort and Tom nodded in agreement.
"I best Harry Potter and what does he do? Summon yet another Harry Potter" snarled Voldemort, "One that has the experience of besting me already, that miserably old fool"
Tom smirked, "He might have been able to best me, but he would be nothing to us"
Voldemort stopped his fuming for a second to look at his counterpart, "You already lost to him, what assistance could you be able to provide me?"
"I can provide you the knowledge of his abilities" said Tom, "I know almost everything there is to know about him"
"Knowledge of the unknow is useful" admitted Voldemort
Tom have a sly smile, knowing that he had his counterpart right where he wanted him.
"I can even give you my power, the ability to control ice, my own well of magical power" said Tom
"You would give all of that to me, for what?" asked Voldemort
"For the same reason that you performed this ritual, to kill Harry Potter by any means" said Tom
Voldemort eyed his counterpart, something was clearly amiss here, but he couldn't tell what. Tom was clearly him as much as he was clearly Tom. But that just meant that he was all too knowing that he wasn't to be trusted.
"I will agree if you give me a vow on your magic" said Voldemort
Tom gave a large smile, clearly pleased with the choice of word by Voldemort, "I would expect nothing less than myself"
"Swear on your magic to help me defeat Harry Potter, any version of him, on this plane of existence" said Voldemort
"I swear to help you defeat, to kill Harry Potter or any version on this plane of existence" swore Tom, a flash of light blue outlining his form, showing that he had agreed to the vow that Voldemort had laid out.
"So, how do we do this?" asked Voldemort
"Like this" said Tom before his ghostly form walked forward and into Voldemort's body. Voldemort felt a geyser of power erupt inside of his body, the world around him being consumed as a flurry of slushy snow fell around his form.
His pale skin grew a little more normal looking and he felt the bones in his face twist and he knew he would end up looking more like Tom than Voldemort. But that wasn't a bad thing, Tom had been much more of a public figure than Voldemort. He could use a little more Tom in his appearance.
But as he felt the surge of power and shifting of his body, he also felt a presence in his mind. It was a familiar one, the Tom that he had been speaking with. That was okay, until Tom grasped Voldemort's mind wrestled control of it from Voldemort.
"What is the meaning of this?" Demanded Voldemort, "You can't betray me, you swore an oath to me"
"Dear old me, you're wording was terrible. I promised to help you kill Harry Potter, the best way for that to happen is for me to be in control" crackled Tom as he buried Voldemort under an avalanche of magical mental chains, pushing the dark lord deeper into the caverns of his own body's mind.
As Tom finished the take over, he felt the ocean of magic that laid inside of his body, the warmth of the Yew wand in his right hand reminded him of his youth.
"Yes, this will do" stated Tom and the world unfroze around him. His body shivered in delight as the cold snow clung to his robes and he embraced the icy sensation.
The door opened and Tom allowed a charming smile to grace his face, his features much more appropriate for such a move as he laid his eyes on Bellatrix.
"My dear Bella" tsk'd Tom, "why have you come to interrupt my ritual, what if the magic killed you?"
Bella frowned, "I didn't think of that"
She glanced around at the four bodies on the ground before she took in the much more human appearance of her master.
"My lord, you've changed" she purred
"Yes, I decided that I have to be someone who can be seen in public, I think it is time to take a much different direction and approach in our fight" said Tom, even as Voldemort rattled the chains in the back of his mind.
"Really, you've never been one to care for public opinion in the past" questioned Bella
Tom pursed his lips and did not seem amused
"Crucio" thought Tom and Bella dropped down to the ground, the pain being more than she had ever felt before.
When Tom released the spell, he smiled with glee. The sheer force of his magic was more than he had ever expected.
Bella's form shook on the ground even after Tom lifted the spell from her form.
"I don't remember asking you for your opinion" tsk'd Tom like a teacher disappointed in his student, "If I want to hear from you, I would ask for your opinion. You're lucky that I am merciful in my treatment of you"
Bella nodded and struggled to climb to her feet, her chest was heaving and she had an oddly sane look on her face. It was as if she had just realized that her master before her was something more than she had ever seen before.
"Now, go gather a group of our most mediocre men, we have an attack to launch on London" instructed Voldemort
Bella nodded and she scrambled out of the room as Tom twirled the wand in his hands, the feeling of using that much power was intoxicating. He had missed this part of being alive. The feeling of unleashing unimaginable power on those weaker than him, it was the best feeling in the world.
He was back, more powerful than ever and all that stood in his way was the same thing as last time.
Harry Potter
A known enemy, the same one that had gotten the best of him in the past. But things were going to be different now. In the past, he had underestimated the brat, he had been very much focused on Dumbledore. That had allowed Harry to slip through the cracks, that was not going to be the case this time around, to hell with the old man.
He knew better this time around, he had to take the fight to Harry in not just the battlefield, but the media as well. This had to be a battle ... a war on two fronts.
Tom knew as well as the next person that the Magical world was a heavily racist place, the important of 'blood purity' rather than pure magical power was pathetic.
That is what Tom had to claim to be a Pure Blood, they would have never followed him if they knew his muggle origins. Even after Harry exposed his muggle side, this world's Voldemort had claimed that it was a lie to split their forces.
Walking to the door that lead to the room, Tom waved his wand and a burst of frozen flames splashed out of the tip of the wand and consumed everything in the the room. All that was left in the room was a small puddle of water.
Making his way up the stairs, back into the main part of the Manor, Tom was greeted to the sight of a group of new recruits being lashed into by Bellatrix about how they were to cause damage and panic.
"Now now Bella, don't scare them too much, they're not there to be anything more than witnesses" said Tom before he conjured a rope and had everyone touch it.
Turning it into a portkey, Tom allowed all of them minus Bella to be whisked away to the heart of London.
They dropped into the town square and Tom took a deep breath before saying "observe my brothers and sisters"
He opened his mouth and out shot a tsunami of icy flames that killed everything it touched, burning through muggle London with ease. Thousands of lives lost in a matter of seconds.
A flick of his wand and the dark mark appeared in the sky and his new recruits started to fidget in place.
"Worry not" said Tom as the first of the Aurors popped in only to be ripped apart with the ease of a twist of wand.
"What are we waiting for sir" asked one of the nervous men behind him. Tom didn't even glance back at his minion as he allowed his magic to unwind from inside his body and flood the world.
Storm clouds kicked up in the sky and it started to snow.
Tom let a sly smile grace his face, "we wait for the media of course. I have to give an interview"